Index: Denton Festivals and Major Events

If you’ve lived in Denton for even a few months, you’ve probably figured out that there’s a lot going on in this town. To be honest, even life-long Dentonites have a hard time keeping track of it all sometimes. We figured we’d help out with that a little bit. Below is an index of all the major festivals and events that happen in our (not-so) little (anymore) town on an annual basis. If the event has already happened and next year’s date hasn’t been announced yet, we went ahead and included this year’s date (since they tend to happen around the same time every year), and we’ll update it as we get the info. Did we miss an event? Send us an email and we’ll get it added.

January

Band Together DentonJanuary 20 & 21, 20172017 will bring this festival in its inaugural year, featuring 60 local bands playing 10 different house venues over 2 days — all for the benefit of Mentor Denton.

Denton Black Film FestivalJanuary 27 - 29, 2017This fest is held at the Campus Theater and features film screenings, panels, workshops, music, art, spoken word, and comedy, all designed to educate about the black experience, entertain, and inspire.

February

March

April

Thin LineApril 19 - 23, 2017Thin Line features the best in film, music, and photo every year and for the first time, it’ll be free in 2017! We didn’t think it could get any better, but it did.

Redbud FestivalApril 23, 2016Denton’s official Arbor Day celebration, hosted by Keep Denton Beautiful, has won awards and features dozens of vendors selling plants, home improvement products, and local/handmade crafts, as well as various Arbor Day related activities.

Denton Arts & Jazz FestivalApril 28 - 30, 2017BOne of the premiere festivals in the city every year, with plenty of jazz and arts for the whole family to enjoy, all for free!

May

Denton Comedy FestivalMay 9, 2017The comedy scene in Denton has gotten pretty spectacular as of late, and 2016 saw the inaugural Denton Comedy Festival. They’ll be back at in May for version 1.5.

Denton Cinco de MayoMay 14, 2016This event celebrates the rich cultural traditions, songs, dances, art, and food of the Hispanic community, and kicks off every year with a parade.

35 Denton3 days of music and more make this one of our favorites. Previous years have seen it being held in March, but for 2017, they are making the move to May.

June

Denton Air ShowJune 18, 2016Held at the Denton Airport; check out cool planes and be awed by the Aerobatics.

July

August

North Texas Fair and RodeoAugust 19 - 27, 2016This is Texas, y’all, and we like our rodeos. Being Texas, though, we do it bigger and better with a fair thrown into the mix. 8 days of all the rodeo events and fair food your heart can take — it gets better every year!

Denton Blues FestivalSeptember 17-18, 2016Hosted by the Denton Black Chamber of Commerce and featuring talented blues artists as well as plenty of family-fun and food.

OaktopiaSeptember 22-24, 2016This year, they brought us Norah Jones… We can’t wait to see what happens in the future.

October

Dog Days of DentonOctober 1, 20162016 saw the 23rd Dog Days of Denton celebration, and it’s always a barking great time. With fun for the whole family, both pawed and not, this should always be on your to-do list.

UNT HomecomingNovember 5, 2016The whole town of Denton gets excited for UNT Homecoming, and there’s a whole week's worth of activities leading up to it that includes a giant bonfire and a parade, plus the actual football game.

D&L Denton Annual Weenie Dog RacesNovember 5, 2016Did you know this is an annual event? We didn’t until recently, and now that we do, we’ll be there every time because racing weenie dogs is cute and we like cute things.

Denton Holiday Lighting FestivalDecember 2, 2016Thousands flock to the Downtown Square to catch the annual lighting of the tree on the Courthouse Lawn. Always on the first Friday of December, and also kicks off Wassail Weekend.